For
the past two decades, researchers have been studying the most effective ways
to prevent youth from engaging in harmful activities such as alcohol, tobacco
and other drug use, violent behavior, eating disorders, and aggressive and
reckless driving. As a result, a science-based approach to prevention has
emerged that offers guidelines for designing effective programming. SADD embraces
these guidelines in a highly unique, two-pronged approach.

First, SADD itself is a prevention program. It promotes youth development
and empowers students to get involved in leading their peers toward good decision-making.
SADD provides a supportive environment for many young people to follow a healthy
lifestyle. It also provides an opportunity for students to develop leadership
skills, engage in service-learning, and serve as agents for change in their
schools and communities. Integrated in schools and communities across the
country, SADD chapters themselves foster a culture among participating students
that promotes youth resiliency and positive decision-making.

Second, SADDs mission is "to provide students with the best prevention
and intervention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking,
impaired driving, drug abuse, and other destructive decisions." SADD
chapters are charged with implementing programming that raises awareness and
informs the community about pertinent issues, engages local youth in alternative
activities that build resilience and reduce risk factors, and strengthens
norms against destructive decisions within families, schools, and communities.
SADD National offers local SADD chapters successful and effective prevention
strategies that help them fulfill this goal.

What
is a science-based prevention program?

According
to research done in the field, prevention programs must be designed to enhance
protective factors and move toward reducing known risk factors. The research
also reveals that in order to prevent substance abuse and violence among youth,
programming must involve a coordinated, collaborative approach that addresses
change not only at the individual level but also at the peer, school, family,
community, and larger society levels.

What
does this mean for SADD?

For
SADD activities to be effective, SADD programming must capitalize on protective
factors, reduce risk factors, and target the six identified domains: individual,
peer, family, school, community, and society/environment.

What
are risk factors?

Risk
factors make a young person vulnerable to health and social problems. Researchers
have found that the more risk factors a young person experiences, the more
likely it is that she or he will experience substance use and related problems
in adolescence and young adulthood. Risk factors include biological, psychological/behavioral,
and social/environmental characteristics, such as family history of substance
use, depression or diagnosed mental health disorder, or living in an area
where substance abuse and violence are tolerated and/or pervasive.

What
are protective factors?

Protective
factors (also known as resilience factors) help safeguard youth from substance
abuse and related problems. Essentially, many attitudes, behaviors, beliefs,
situations, and/or actions can build resilience. Researchers have found that
the presence of protective factors reduces the likelihood that a young person
will struggle with substance abuse and violence even if that young person
is exposed to a substantial number of risk factors. Protective factors appear
to balance and buffer the negative impact of existing risk factors.

What
are domains?

Risk
and protective factors exist at every level at which a person interacts with
others and the surrounding world. Based on the research, human interactions
have been organized into six different life or activity domains. Within each
one of these domains, risk and protective factors can be identified.

This
table lists the six domains and identifies a few examples of possible risk
and protective factors for each.

Lack
of youth recreation activities; lack of adult involvement or interest
in youth; tolerance of teen substance use

Strong
collaboration among parents, law enforcement, public health services,
and schools; enforcement of purchasing ages for alcohol and tobacco; opportunities
for youth participation in community activities

Society/
Environment

Alcohol
use seen on TV commercials and shows and in movies aimed at teens; strong
media influences to smoke cigarettes and use alcohol; alcohol-sponsored
community events

No
alcohol billboards within 500 yards of school facilities; strong impaired
driving laws enforced; graduated licensing laws in place

How SADD Reduces Risk Factors

Through the design and implementation of programming, SADD chapters are able
to respond to risk factors. Several examples are outlined in the following
table.

Domain

Risk
Factors

SADD
Reduces Risk

Individua-Based
Risk Factors

First
use of any substance occurs during early teen years.

Greater
vulnerability to negative peer pressure

Low
self-esteem, lack of bonding with peers, school, or community

Victim
of violence in the home or community

Youth
has a history of depression or suicide attempts or emotional, psychological,
physical, or sexual abuse.

SADD
chapters educate youth about risks of substance use.

SADD
chapters allow students to develop positive relationships with peers
who have healthy beliefs and can set clear boundaries.

SADD
chapters welcome all types of people and can provide opportunities
for youth to develop strong leadership and social skills.

SADD
can customize prevention efforts to increase youth protective factors. SADD
advisors, working through their SADD chapters, can take the following actions.

Target
all forms of drug use.
When targeting drug-related issues, focus SADD programming and activities
on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.

Promote
skills to resist drug offers.
Enlist SADD students in developing ways to resist invitations to use alcohol,
tobacco, and other drugs, and then set up programs that enable SADD students
to teach younger students how to resist drug offers.

Build
social competency skills.
Empower SADD students to take on projects and tasks that will help them
develop communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills. As students
learn to negotiate all the details to fulfill their assignments and responsibilities,
they will develop competencies in a variety of areas.

Promote
education designed to correct students misperceptions about drug use.
Invite outside professionals to inform students about the facts and realities
of drug use. Design programming that allows trained SADD students to educate
other youth about the issue.

Include
a strong parent component.
Work with parent/teacher organizations to develop programming that educates,
trains, and informs parents about teen issues, behaviors, and attitudes.
Design programming that will bring parents and youth together to engage
in a dialogue, participate in activities, and share a common experience.

Reach
out to diverse populations, including youth with behavior problems or learning
disabilities.
Focus recruiting efforts on youth groups that are not yet represented in
your chapter. Identify and demystify stereotypes and prejudices. Implement
outreach programs that target all the diverse populations located in your
school and/or community.

Provide
interactive methods, such as peer discussion groups.
Lead SADD chapter activities that are engaging and allow students to interact.
Provide opportunities for role-plays, dialogue, educational games, performances,
and demonstrations.

Facilitate
collaboration among all resources in the community.
Reach out to local law enforcement, juvenile court officials, mental health
agencies, school administration, local businesses, parents, prevention coalitions,
and networks.

Launch
youth media campaigns and lobby for policy changes.
Advocate for change in schools, in communities, in states, or on the national
level. Organize focus groups to assess and develop school handbook policies.
Work with state-level legislative coalitions on youth issues, such as graduated
licensing, safety belt use, and underage drinking. Teach SADD students how
to meet with legislators to discuss pertinent youth issues and policies.

Seven
Prevention Strategies to Incorporate in SADD Programming

When
determining your target issue and designing programs, it is important to consider
the seven major strategies to prevention.

Policy:
The creation, promotion, and enforcement of policies, norms, rules,
laws, and regulations to regulate and control behavior

Enforcement:
Creating awareness of, promoting, and exercising enforcement and reinforcement
of existing and new policies regarding violence and substance abuse

Communications:
Education, marketing, and campaigning about an issue to influence norms,
attract support from others, raise awareness, and keep the people informed

Education:
Instructional approaches that teach a combination of positive social
and thinking skills have been found to be much more effective at changing
behavior than simply teaching youth about substances, violence, and the
consequences involved. Specific skill building should be integrated into
any educational strategy.

Collaboration:
Community coalition building, interagency collaboration, and other collaborative
efforts have been shown to be effective in raising awareness about the issues
of substance abuse and violence and in coordinating prevention and intervention
services.

Alternatives:
Schools and communities must work together to incorporate recreational,
enrichment, and leisure activities into their approach to prevention.

Early
Intervention: Strategies such as student assistance programs, counseling,
and referral and treatment services for youth at risk for substance abuse,
violence, and other related risk factors are important to have in place.
The most effective strategies are those designed to identify young people
and their parents as "at risk" and refer them to appropriate educational,
counseling, or support programs.

Using
components of these seven various strategies when designing your SADD activities
will increase the likelihood that your program will be effective in reducing
substance abuse, violence, and/or other destructive behaviors harmful to young
people.

Examples
of Prevention Strategies Executed by a SADD Chapter

Drawing
on multiple strategies increases the likelihood that your SADD chapter will
be successful in meeting its goal of changing youth behavior. For example,
if a chapters goal is to reduce the amount of violence, specifically
bullying and fighting in a school community, then participants should incorporate
several different strategies of action to achieve this goal. Some of these
may include the following strategies.

(Policy)
Spearheading
the development of a clear policy against fighting and harassment to post
in the school handbook

(Enforcement)
Working
with school officials to support and sustain enforcement that will uphold
policy

(Communication)
Posting
messages around the school that encourage respect and compassion

(Education)
Holding interactive classes in middle and elementary schools to educate
younger students about abuse and respect

(Collaboration)
Working
with school administrators, support staff, and community mental health services
to establish a referral process and support services for identified victims
and perpetrators of bullying

(Alternatives)
Sponsoring
an event  a dance, rally, or assembly  to promote spirit and
respect among members of the student body

(Early
Intervention) Working
with school administrators to implement an appropriate, structured, standardized
conflict resolution program that is endorsed by a nationally recognized
and accredited organization, such as the Association of Conflict Resolution
(www.acresolution.org)
or the National Association of Peer Programs (www.peerhelping.org),
P.O. Box 32272, Kansas City, Missouri 64171-5272; Tel: 913-362-0794; Toll-free:
877-314-7337; Fax: 913-362 0735; E-mail: npha@peerhelping.org).

SADD
as a Proven, Effective Prevention Program

In
1995, Preusser Research Group, Inc. completed a national SADD evaluation.
The study produced the following results.

Students
in schools with an active SADD chapter, as compared with students attending
a school without an active SADD chapter, were exposed to substantially more
information advocating efforts against drinking, impaired driving, and drug
use.

Students
attending a school with an active SADD chapter, as compared with students
attending a school without an active program, were more aware of and informed
about underage drinking, impaired driving, and drug use.

Students
attending a school with an active SADD chapter, as compared with students
attending a school without an active SADD chapter, expressed more positive
reasons not to use alcohol and/or drugs.

SADD
chapters provide real benefits to participants in terms of personal growth,
experience, and community perspective.

A
rigorous program such as SADD should be viewed as an important component
of a total community strategy to address underage drinking and impaired
driving.